Crown writer Peter Morgan claims the Queen was too busy being the Queen to be a attentive mother to Charles and Anne as he explains his show’s portrayal of the ‘cold’ monarch

• Peter Morgan found it credible that older Queen was ‘more ready to be a mother’ 
• Was ‘trying to find her feet and do her job’ when Charles and Anne were born
• In the Crown, Princess Anne describes her younger brothers as the ‘b-team’
• Mr Morgan believes Charles bore the brunt of the lack of love from his mother
• He said Charles ‘needs a lot of love, and she was probably unable to give it’

The creator of hit series The Crown believes the Queen was a better mother to two younger children as she was still ‘trying to find her feet’ when Prince Charles and Princess Anne were young.

Peter Morgan said the Queen was probably ‘much more ready to be a mother’ to Prince Andrew, born in 1960, and Prince Edward, born in 1964 than she was to the older two.

The ‘teams’ theory – told to him by an historian – is depicted in the Crown when the Queen played by Olivia Coleman, asks to speak to her children individually in an attempt to learn more about them – a move apparently sparked by Margaret Thatcher’s closeness to her son Mark.

Showing how little she knows about her children, the monarch asks for a ‘short briefing document’ on each child so she does not feel ‘uninformed’ or ‘cold’.

Later, the Queen explains that she ‘wanted two more to prove to myself that I had it in me and to make up for my failings. Especially with Charles.’ 

The creator of hit series The Crown said the Queen (pictured with Prince Philip this week) was a better mother to two younger children as she was still ‘trying to find her feet’ when Prince Charles and Princess Anne were young

Peter Morgan found it credible that the Queen was ‘much more ready to be a mother’ to Prince Andrew, born in 1960, and Prince Edward, born in 1964 than she was to the older two. Pictured: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew in 1979

The Queen was 22 years old when Charles was born in 1948. Princess Anne was born two years later in 1950. She acceded to the throne in 1952 when her father died.

Mr Morgan told The Times that the Queen was ‘preoccupied with trying to find her feet and do her job’ when the first two children were young.

The Crown creator believes that Charles bore the brunt of the lack of love shown to him by his mother during his childhood. 

He said Charles ‘needs a lot of love, and she was probably unable to give it.’

In the fourth episode of the latest series of the Crown, the Queen played by Olivia Coleman (pictured with Josh O’Connor as Charles), asks to speak to her children individually in an attempt to learn more about them – a move apparently sparked Margaret Thatcher’s closeness to her son who goes missing

Showing how little she knows about her children, the monarch asks for a ‘short briefing document’ on each child so she does not feel ‘uninformed’ or ‘cold’. Left: Erin Doherty as Princess Anne. Right: Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles

Angus Imrie as Prince Edward (right) and Tom Byrne as Prince Andrew (left) in The Crown

Earlier this week, Mr Morgan received criticism for admitting he ‘made up’ a confrontation between Prince Charles and his great uncle Lord Mountbatten for the Netflix series. 

Mr Morgan says the segment, which is said to have shocked royals, was ‘made up in my head’.

The scene, which featured in the first episode of the newly released fourth series, shows Lord Mountbatten confronting the Prince of Wales over his pursuit of married Camilla Parker Bowles.

During the confrontation with Lord Mountbatten, played by award-winning actor Charles Dance, the Prince, played by Josh O’Connor, hits back describing him as a ‘quisling’ – another word for a traitor.

Later in the episode, Lord Mountbatten then responds by writing a letter accusing Prince Charles of bringing ‘ruin and disappointment’ to the family.

The creator of hit saga The Crown, Peter Morgan (pictured), has admitted he ‘made up’ confrontation between Prince Charles and his great uncle Lord Mountbatten for the Netflix series

During the confrontation with Lord Mountbatten, played by award-winning actor Charles Dance (pictured left), the Prince, played by Josh O’Connor (pictured right), hits back describing him as a ‘quisling’ – another word for a traitor

But in drama, the letter does not reach Prince Charles until after Lord Mountbatten has been assassinated by the IRA. 

While Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by a bomb that was hidden aboard his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, Ireland, in 1979, there is no record of any letter.

And, rather than argue with him, royal commentators have insisted Prince Charles in fact adored his great-uncle.

According to the Times, Mr Morgan, who is the creator and writer of the series, has already admitted the scene was made up.

But, speaking in the official Crown podcast, he says he believes Lord Mountbatten did hold views to those expressed in the fictitious letter.

He said: ‘What we know is that Mountbatten was really responsible for taking Charles to one side at precisely this point and saying, “look, you know, enough already with playing the field, it’s time you got married and it’s time you provided an heir”.

The fourth series, which launched on Sunday, covers Charles’s doomed marriage to Princess Diana, her eating disorders and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, up to the end of Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister

‘In my own head I thought that would have even greater impact on Charles if it were to come post-mortem, as it were.

‘I think everything that’s in that letter which Mountbatten writes to Charles is what I really believe, based on everything I’ve read and people I’ve spoken to, that represents his view.’ 

It comes as royal experts said Prince Harry has stepped into a ‘bear trap’ with his £75million Netflix deal amid fierce criticism of The Crown’s portrayal of his parents, as it was said his brother William will ‘undoubtedly detest’ the show’s new series.

The Duke of Sussex is ‘unlikely to see a clash’ between the ‘deeply intrusive’ drama and the deal he and wife Meghan made, commentators said as they pointed out it portrayed his parents Charles as a ‘wimp’ and ‘brutal’ and Diana as ‘deeply stressed’.

Richard Fitzwilliams said Harry may even agree with the ‘derisory portrayal of the Royal Family as a rather sinister, uncaring and often cruel institution’, while author Penny Junor said the 36-year-old was in a ‘very awkward situation right now’.

Other commentators have lined up to criticise the drama, including Ingrid Seward who called it ‘pretty inaccurate’, Dickie Arbiter who said ‘some of the actions are fiction’ and Sally Beddell Smith who said ‘the level of invention has been growing’.

Emma Corrin plays Princess Diana in the Netflix series, while Prince Charles is played by Josh O’Connor

Tom Quinn said parts of the show were ‘total nonsense’, although Paul Burrell was full of praise, saying it was a ‘fair and accurate dramatisation of what happened’.

Inaccuracies in the drama have also been slammed, including that Charles saw Lord Mountbatten as more of a father-figure than Prince Philip, and that Margaret Thatcher told the Queen she thought women were incapable of holding high office.

Meanwhile Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen warned The Crown has painted a twisted picture of late prime minister Baroness Thatcher and her premiership including her battle with the IRA and the decision to go to war with Argentina.

Friends of Prince Charles launched a blistering attack on the show over the weekend, accusing producers of the hit Netflix drama of ‘trolling on a Hollywood budget’.

Some of the Prince’s closest confidantes have accused the streaming giant of exploiting the Royal Family’s pain for financial gain and raged that ‘fiction is presented as fact’ in its twisted version of events.

The fourth series, which launched on Sunday, covers Charles’s doomed marriage to Princess Diana, her eating disorders and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, up to the end of Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister.

In a series of highly unusual public interventions that demonstrates the depth of concern at the very top of the Royal Family, Palace insiders lined up to slate the Netflix show.

One insider said: ‘This is drama and entertainment for commercial ends being made with no regard to the actual people involved who are having their lives hijacked and exploited. 

‘In this case, it’s dragging up things that happened during very difficult times 25 or 30 years ago without a thought for anyone’s feelings. That isn’t right or fair, particularly when so many of the things being depicted don’t represent the truth.’

It is the depiction of a callous and self-serving Charles meeting and marrying an innocent Diana while maintaining his affair with the then-married Camilla Parker-Bowles which has sparked such anger.

A Palace source said: ‘The new series paints the Prince and Duchess in a very unflattering light but at least at the start of reality shows like The Only Way Is Essex they admit that some scenes have been invented for entertainment.

‘There is no sense of telling carefully nuanced stories – it’s all very two-dimensional.

‘This is trolling with a Hollywood budget. The public shouldn’t be fooled into thinking this is an accurate portrayal of what really happened.’  

Until now, the Royal Family has refused to comment on The Crown – which has largely been seen as positive to the royals in the first three series.

However, The Mail on Sunday understands that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were angry with previous series.

Philip was shown having an affair with a ballerina during the second series and, in the third, ignoring his mother, Princess Alice, when she came to live at Buckingham Palace in 1967.  Neither happened.

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